Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
STARBUCKS: IT STARTED HERE (ALMOST)
(1912 Pike Pl; 6am-9pm)
in Pike Place Market without appearing in someone's
Facebook photo, so dense is the tourist traffic. But, while this hallowed business
might be the world's oldest surviving Starbucks store, it is not - as many assume
- the world's first Starbucks location, nor is it Seattle's oldest espresso bar. The
original Starbucks opened in 1971 at 2000 Western Ave (at Western Ave's north
end). It moved to its current location, a block away, in 1976. The honor of
Seattle's oldest continuously running coffee bar goes to Café Allegro in the U Dis-
trict, which opened in 1975. Until the early 1980s Starbucks operated purely as a
retail store that sold coffee beans and equipment (plus the odd taster cup). The
company didn't open up its first espresso bar until 1984, after CEO Howard
Shultz returned from an epiphanic trip to Italy. The Pike Place cafe is unique in
that, in keeping with the traditional unbranded ethos of the market, it doesn't sell
food or baked goods - just coffee.
Other interesting Starbucks facilities in Seattle include the cafe on the 40th
floor of the Columbia Center (Seattle's tallest building); the company's first
LEED-certified cafe that opened downtown on the corner of Pike St and 1st Ave in
2009 and sports the original brown logo, and Roy Street Coffee & Tea in Capitol
Hill. The latter is sometimes known as a 'stealth Starbucks' as, despite being run
by the company, it goes under a different name and is used as a testing ground
for new ideas and products.
